Medicare Part D actually contributed to the deficit (third, after the Bush Tax Cuts and the two unfunded wars). It WAS the giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry that right-wing ideologues project onto the ACA.

Back in July 2008, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform published a report on the huge windfall to the pharmaceutical industry. The report was titled “Medicare Part D: Drug Pricing and Manufacturer Windfalls.”

The report findings were a scathing indictment of the so-called 'reform'.

A little background first. Medicare Part D pays an average 30 percent more for prescription drugs than does Medicaid, and further, the administrative expenses and profits of private insurers account for nearly 10 percent of Part D costs, nearly six times that of traditional Medicare.

As a result Medicare Part D produced in excess of $3.7 billion that went straight to the coffers of drug manufacturers in the first two years of the program.

Johnson & Johnson received the biggest chunk, making $615 million off the program in 2006 and 2007. More than $500 million of the added revenue came from the sales of just one drug—the anti-psychotic Risperdal.

Bristol-Myers Squib received a windfall of $400 million, including over $200 million in additional revenue from sales of Plavix, a heart-attack and stroke medication.

The report arrived at an estimate of $3.7 billion by looking at the 100 drugs most used by beneficiaries.

Much of the money was obtained as a result of the dual-eligibility provision which transferred the drug coverage of elderly and disabled individuals who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid away from the more cost-effective Medicaid to the Medicare Part D program.

The dual-eligibility scam portends even greater profits for the rapacious drug companies. Dual-eligible beneficiaries are expected to consume $432 billion worth of prescription drugs in the first 10 years following the report’s publication.

Had Medicare Part D called for the same pricing as Medicaid, the cost of these drugs would have fallen by an estimated $86 billion. If Medicare negotiated directly with drug manufacturers and obtained prices equivalent to the Medicaid prices for all Medicare beneficiaries, the potential savings to taxpayers increases to $156 billion.

The figures shed light on the real intent of Medicare Part D—which was to pad the already flush coffers of the big drug companies with public funds. Although the Bush administration and the GOP wrapped the program in the language of populism and reform, the result was the redistribution of wealth away from poor and working-class taxpayers and into the balance sheets of Big Pharma.

Americans tend to think of themselves as millionaires who have fallen on hard times, instead of working class poor or struggling middle class. They assume they'll be rich one day. So they oppose taxes for the rich in anticipation of their own arrival into the wealthy classes.

Some of the ladies head into town to the local Wal-Mart to pick up supplies for making Planned Parenthood protest signs. Lurleen and Earlene see a black guy and get scared. Baylee-Ann throws a fit because she can't find one of them ‘lectrical’ carts. Another fight breaks out in the art supplies section as Lurleen wants to make all the signs because her spelling is ‘more good.’ Yet another fight breaks out in the women’s apparel when Baylee-Ann and Earlene both want to wear the same outfit to the Impeach Obama Overpass Rally.

Even staying at home can lead to drama when Dakota inadvertently washes her rebel thong with boyfriend Bobby Lee's Klan sheet. He's hopping mad because now it has mingled with "coloreds"...